“This wonderful document, Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts is about us, Canadian society, and what we need to put faces and voices to the inequities – and the health inequities in particular – that exist in our midst. Only when we see a concrete description of these complex and challenging problems, when we read about their various expressions in all the regions of the country and among the many sub-groups making up Canada, can we move to action.”
– Hon. Monique Bégin, PC, FRSC, OC from the Foreword. (Member of WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and Former Minister of National Health & Welfare of Canada)

“Congratulations on this most valuable contribution to Canadians’ understanding of what really needs to change in order to improve population health. My hope is that it also sends a strong yet accessible message to those of us in the Canadian health system about how we need to change our practice.”
– Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, Chief Executive Officer, Sudbury & District Health Unit

“Juha Mikkonen and Dennis Raphael have created a resource that is at once educational, easy to read, evidence-based, and a powerful call to action. I hope to see this document open on the desks of policy makers, public health professionals, students, and front line health providers. This important contribution to the dialogue around social determinants of health in Canada offers both an accessible resource, and a straightforward guide to what we need to do to reduce inequities in health.”
– Dr. Gary Bloch, Family Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto; Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

“This is a superb document for getting the message out there regarding the politics of health. There is nothing like it in Canada. The text and the graphs will enlighten even the skeptics. The cover art is great. The layout is engaging and the whole thing is entirely readable. I’ll be using it in every class I teach.”
– Dr. Elizabeth McGibbon, St. Francis Xavier University

“Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, everyone has rights ‘to an adequate standard of living’ and ‘the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.’ Nonetheless, the evidence for comprehensive action on the social determinants of health is overwhelming. Like highly skilled trial lawyers, Juha Mikkonen and Dennis Raphael have assembled this evidence, concisely, clearly and compellingly, into a single document. As a result, the prospect of realizing the rights that constitute an international standard for a decent human life is that much brighter. Bravo!”
– Rob Rainer, Executive Director, Canada Without Poverty

“The Canadian Facts so succinctly described in this readable little book are not nice ones. But beneath the intersecting pathways by which social injustices become health inequalities lies the most sobering message: Things are getting worse. We have lived through three decades where the predatory greed of unregulated markets has allowed (and still allows) some to accumulate ever larger hordes of wealth and power while denying others a fair share of the resources they need to be healthy. This book is a fast-fact reference and an invitation for Canadian health workers to join with social movement activists elsewhere to reclaim for the public good some of these appropriated resources.“
– Dr. Ronald Labonté, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Globalization
and Health Equity, University of Ottawa

“With unusual clarity and insight, this informative resource will help change the way readers think about health. It renders visible how underlying social and economic environments influence health outcomes even more than personal behaviors, genetic profiles, or access to healthcare. Solutions, it reminds us, lie not in new medical advances or even ‘right choices’ but in the political arena: struggling for the social changes that can provide every resident the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling life.”
– Larry Adelman, creator and executive producer, “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?”